ARE 5.0 Practice Exams – How To Use Them Wisely.
There’s a ton of ARE 5.0 practice exams out there. But, a solid test question is hard to write. With the help of psychometricians, NCARB relies on an army of volunteers to write, review, revise, and test ARE exam questions before they’re unleashed on candidates. The fact that candidates still have issues with NCARB’s exam questions is evidence of the writing challenge. I’d argue that no third-party ARE 5.0 practice exam questions have been as thoroughly vetted, and forget about... Read More
Statute of Repose vs. Statute of Limitations
WTF is the difference? Inquiring minds want to know. There’s a lot of confusion regarding Statute of Repose vs. Statute of Limitations. One reason is each state sets its own limitations as to the start date, the duration, and the end date. Furthermore, these change over time, as each state sets a new precedent and updates the law. There is no absolute time limit for each statute, they both generally vary from 1-10 years depending on the state, and there isn’t one specific date the clock... Read More
The Architect May Have Liability Too
PcM - Section 1, Objective 3 (Architect liability) CE - Section 2, Objective 1 (Architect liability) This question comes up regularly. On a routine site visit an architect witnesses an unsafe condition. What to do? I often hear, “Say nothing, because of the architect’s potential exposure to liability.” Seems like a safe approach, but is this really what it’s come to? Not only is the “say nothing” response morally suspect, it’s arguably a violation of more than one... Read More
A Familiar ARE 5.0 Debate – AIA A201
CE - Section 4, Objective 1 (AIA A201-2007) The punch list. Who provides it? The short answer: The contractor. Why? Because it says so in AIA A201-2017™, General Conditions of the Contract for Construction. The long answer: The actual practice of architecture often diverges from how AIA A201-2017 says it’s supposed to work. For answering exam questions, this is a recipe for the confusion that is often reinforced by those who should know better. Just so we’re all working from the... Read More
AIA Document A201-2017. Spoiler. It’s the Owner.
Division: Construction and Evaluation Section 3: Administrative Procedures & Protocols (32-38%) Objective 4: Evaluate responses to non-conformance with contract documents During a routine inspection to determine if the sandwich is substantially complete, the architect suspects that the contractor used chunky peanut butter instead of smooth as required by the specifications. In accordance with AIA Document A201-2017, General Conditions of the Contract for Construction, the... Read More